Ohio Department of Aging Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2009

Director of Aging, Experts Discuss Medicare and Health Care Fraud
State Efforts, Steps Consumers Can Take Are Topics of TV Program

COLUMBUS - Barbara E. Riley, director of the Ohio Department of Aging, and expert guests discuss Medicare and health care fraud on an episode of the department's Finer With Age television program that will begin airing on stations throughout the state this month.

Medicare fraud costs the federal health insurance program millions of dollars annually and results in higher premiums for Medicare recipients. Beverley Laubert, the State Long-term Care Ombudsman, and Kaye Mason-Inoshita, the ombudsman for the Portsmouth area, explain what Medicare fraud is and what the state is doing to help combat it.

Similarly, some providers try to defraud the state's Medicaid program, which covers as many as 2.2 million low-income parents, children, pregnant women, seniors and individuals with disabilities each year. Lloyd Early and John Guthrie from the Health Care Fraud Section of the Ohio Attorney General's office, join Director Riley to describe how their office investigates and prosecutes health care providers accused of defrauding the state's Medicaid program, and what consumers can do to help.

Finer With Age is produced monthly by the Ohio Department of Aging, through a partnership with Ohio Government Television. The show is broadcast on select cable access and public broadcasting stations throughout the state. Check your local listings or contact your cable provider for air times. Viewers also may watch full episodes on the program's Web site, FinerWithAge.com.

About ODA

The Ohio Department of Aging provides leadership for the delivery of services and supports that improve and promote quality of life and personal choice for older Ohioans, adults with disabilities, their families and their caregivers. Working with 12 area agencies on aging and other community partners, the department offers home- and community-based Medicaid waiver programs such as PASSPORT, the long-term care ombudsman program, the Golden Buckeye Card and more. Visit www.aging.ohio.gov.